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Damnation on Fire: The Second Damnation...Plus

Michael A. Skladany | Lousiville, Tennessee | 05/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Second Damnation was released in 1970. The 2nd Damnation once again shows the Cleveland, Ohio based psychedelic, blues and funk outfit putting together another outstanding (and 37 years later) effort. Highlights include the regional hit "Back to the River" BTW: should have been a World Hit as it is an anthemn of monster proportions easily on par with anything from the era and beyond!!! Side one is solid with DOAB laying out a "heavier" bass and drums by Ray Benich and Bill Earle respectively. The dynamic guitar duo of Jim Quinn and Bobby Kalamasz accent some of the best licks from the 196os.... understated but whoooooooaaaaaaaaa -- powerful stuff. The hard-pounding "No Way" -- sonic "Death of a Virgin" and.... "Driver"...

"Loafin on a sofa,

with a ruler and a glass of sand,

Tryin' to measure life,

As it Passes through my hand..."

..... set up the beautiful vocals of Adam Blessing (Bill Constable) and his brother Ken -- exemplified on "Everyone.". The churning cosmic of "Back to the River" concludes side one. Side 2 begins with, in my opinion, one of the greatest guitar-drum openings in all of music -- dream like psychedelia floating over an incredibly driven tribal drum-bass foundation introduces the acoustic "Money Tree". "Ba-dup" is a rocker -- that winds up the opening for a Friday night!!!! DOAB then tests the blues in "New York City Woman" -- while the band returns to its jam roots with "In the Morning". The short and quixotic "Smile" concludes the studio session.

Generally critics (what do they know really???) consider the first albumn DOAB's best. 2nd Damantion plus also includes 5 live tracks recorded at the Grande ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio 1972. Unearthed from Jim Quinn's archives these live tracks feature material from the third and fourth albumns. "Sunny Days," "Running Away," "Find Out Lover" -- the funky "Get Up" and the anthemic "Dawn" simply put forth DOAB at their best.... IN SUM: WOW. One of the BEST bands ever.

As a dear friend of mine put it upon hearing 2nd Damantion for the first time "It's.... the SOUND... SOUND.... SOUND... riveting and electrifying... the blend of harmonies, guitars, bass and drums is simply outta this world. Heavenly." In sum, what makes DOAB a key band of their era is the fact that they are so versatile and multi-faceted, from blues, to funk, to jams, to gospel like harmonies, to gritty rockin' vocals, the band displays extraordinary talent. Add the psychedelic guitar work here and there and you have --- a musical force who are finally getting their due among one of the great bands of the 1960s. Word has it that DOAB will release a new albumn soon.

Get the 2nd Damnation by any means necessary. You will NEVER-EVER be the same ---- Again."